Atomic Theory
by indecisiveGravedigger
Summary: When you lose someone important to you, wouldn't you do anything to get them back? -Sollux/Eridan, moirail Karkat, Aradia College!stuck Homo!stuck Sad!stuck Grief/angst/sexy/experimental Fluff/friendship
1. Atomic Theory

_Short intro chapter is short! This is going to have multiple chapters, so stay tuned. _

* * *

**Atoms.**

They connect everything.

The atoms in a human body create synapse that run from cell to cell, like wise in computers they run synapse from circuit to circuit. From there, the similarities grew vaguer. One could argue that circuits were like cells and made up the larger "organs" of a computer, but if you took it any further people would start asking _what you had taken_ and _how much you spent on those drugs_.

But whatever they said, you still found similarities between computers and humans. Anything and everything reflects how a cell works. The coincidences were scary to you, really. We were reflecting their processes far before we had even discovered how cells really worked.

So…

If Computers could reflect a human…

Could you make a person out of a computer?

**Your name is Sollux Captor, and you are determined to combine computer programming with human psychology.**


	2. Hair Products and Smooth Chicken

"_So doc, what's the damage?" _

_Sollux's slurred words came out in a harsh whisper. He struggled to keep his eyes open against a force that seemingly wanted them shut. He locked his blurred vision on the blurred figure standing near a mass of gray whirring beeping machines that, though sollux didn't know it, were keeping him alive. The figure, presumably his doctor, turned towards him. Without glasses he could not make out any detail, but he was sure something was wrong._

"Mister Captor, you've been in an accident."

The figure took a few steps forward to stand beside Sollux, but he still couldn't see him hardly at all. Sollux gave a short chuff of laughter.

"No shit. I remember… What happened afterwards?"

* * *

"SOLLUX! DAMN IT, ARE YOU EVER GOING TO COME OUT OF THERE?"

Sollux's shoulders shot up to his ears in reflex. Glaring at the screen ahead of him, he let out a long sigh. The muffled voice penetrated his door in sour disregard to the obvious "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging at eye level.

"GET YOUR SORRY ASS OUT HERE. IT'S TIME FOR DINNER, YOU UNGRATEFUL SNOTGARGELING SHITSTAIN. DO **NOT** SKIP THIS TIME, OR I WILL _PUMMEL_ YOU." Sollux winced again as his volatile friend punched the door for emphasis and stomped down the stairs.

He slowly turned to face the door, giving it an incredulous look, before saving the program he had been working so diligently on. If he didn't heed Karkat's wishes, he'd be ripped a new asshole. It wasn't like he couldn't handle his grump-ass friend; it was just a lot easier to comply. He logged off, locked his computer, closed it, and stumbled around his dark room for a pair of his favourite baggy sweatpants. On his way out, he glanced at the door to check if Karkat had done any damage to the cheap wood. Though, It didn't seem to matter if he had left any fresh knuckle-marks. The door was already dimpled with the many beatings it had undergone in the past….. six months? Damn, it had been that long.

He sped down the hall, passing other rooms in his co-op, and started down the stairs. He took them two steps at a time, jumping the last three and landing hard, but only making a soft thud. He blamed it on the carpet, but knew he should probably not be skipping dinner as often as he did. His work of recent had been pretty much all-consuming. His laptop traveled with him if he left the building for more than a smoke, but even then sometimes.

Once he reached the dining hall, he slipped through the cracked doors. He caught loud laughter from a girl, obviously someone's guest in the all male co-op. She probably came from the woman's building across the street.

"-kles I heard you from a floor below! Now _that's_ a way to make sure someone _never_ leaves their room!" Her playful taunts cut through the jumble of voices, larger than life. He made his way to gather himself a plate and some food, feeling dismay crawl across his gut as he realized tonight's chef was Gamzee. That fucking jugalo freak…. Before Sollux stood his 'signature dish', known as "_smooth chicken_". Grilled chicken spiced with marijuana and ginger. His stomach flipped and he skipped over the main dish, eying it with contempt. He grudgingly grabbed some scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and finally some bread to choke it all down with.

His shoulder and plate lurched as someone slapped him with a loud laugh. Sollux hardly had time to turn his head and look for the culprit before they slung their arm around his shoulders, butting half their weight on him.

"GZ, get the fuck off me!" He spat the words at the man lolling off of him like he was- no wait, he probably _was_high of his ass.

"Brroooo you gotta try my chicken. I cooked it all nice jus' for you an' all that sheee-yit. C'mon, Solbro-"Gamzees eyes got a little bigger as someone wrenched him off of Sollux. He turned more to see who. Oh, of fucking course it was Karkat. His best friend had dragged Gamzee over to a different part of the room and seemed to be harshly scolding him like it would do anything. Gamzee just laughed and patted his shoulder before mingling again. Karkat fumed red, but didn't chase him. Instead, he turned back and made his way to Sollux.

"Sorry about that." He grumbled, not meeting his eyes. Sollux huffed and turned back to shoveling a bit more potatoes onto his plate.  
"For what?" He asked casually.

"Yelling at you like a blustering moron." Karkat said, taking a plate for himself and piling foot onto it as well.

"Oh yeah? Well you don't need to try especially hard to be one of those." Sollux replied at leisure, causing Karkat's head to snap up at him bearing a nasty glare. Sollux broke out into a grin, still looking down at his food.

He found a seat in the corner of the hall with Karkat, for the first ten minutes just shoveling food into their mouths. Sollux hadn't realized just how hungry he was until then. After they had both cleaned their plates and sat with satisfied bellies, Karkat looked at him with a raised eyebrow; the scowl that was usually carved into his features had softened into a… well a normal face.

"So have you made any progress with your project?"

Sollux looked up from examining his shoes to turn to Karkat. "Uhmm.. Well it's coming along fine I guess? I need to do more research on other programs like it since its such an experiment, but I have a good feeling about it. I mean… Come on. It's me making it, right?" He had known Karkat long enough to know that his friend could pick through the arrogance in his voice and get the real message; that he really was having trouble. Karkat chuckled, the side of his lips lifting in a half-smirk.

"Maybe you should have me look at it. I'm still very curious about it."  
Sollux snorted at the thought of Karkat, the programming trainwreck, taking a look at codes as complex and fragile as the ones he had written. "Yeah, in your dreams Kk. It's way beyond you."

Karkat's fell silent, lips tightened and his eyes narrowed.

"You still won't even show it to me?"

Sollux's smile half faded as he searched Karkats face.

"No. It's a… personal project. I'll show you when its done."

Karkat sighed and stood up. Sollux watched him suspiciously as he headed towards the hall. Damn, was he really that butthurt about not seeing the god damn co- Oh wait on a sec. After a moment, Karkat came back from the hall, coats bundled in his arm. He separated one and tossed it to Sollux, nodding towards the door. Solux sighed and raised to his feet, unfurling the tangled coat and slipping it on.

"Hold on, I just need to get my laptop." He mumbled, though Karkat only snorted in response.

He paused, giving Karkat an incredulous look. "What?" he asked.

Karkat rolled his eyes hard, giving a small huff.

"I just pretty much asked you to spend time with me, and unless I'm fucking mistaken, you accepted. Now you want to get your laptop? What, so you can code while we chill in the city? Dude are you kidding me?"

They argued for a few minutes as Sollux stubbornly headed to get his laptop, but in the end Karkat got his way. -_He always gets his fucking way-_ Sollux thought to himself bitterly. Though he had promised he wouldn't even bring it out, that it would stay snugly in its bag, Karkat still had thrown a fit. He sighed and followed his friend out the front door of their co-op building, again taking the stairs two at a time.

"You're gonna fucking trip someday." Karkat said pointedly. "And you won't be able to say I didn't warn you."

"Oh my god, Kk, just lighten up."

Karkat's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "You're one to talk! Hopy shit, wow that's just the pot calling the kettle black!"

He threw his arms up in exasperation. "Fff-king, can we just stop? Look at us, we just cant stop, can we?" He bit the side of his cheek, giving his best friend a stern look. "I'm really not in the mood for bullshit tonight."

They ended up finding their way to a nice little fountain somewhere on College campus. Both young men leaned up against the wall of a building in the vicinity, listening to the crash and splatter of the water feature before them. The night wasn't as cold as karkat must've thought it was going to be, and so Sollux ended up shedding his coat.

"Sooooo..."

"Yes, Kk?"

"Well, I was just wondering about your room mate. How's he been with you taking up all that space in your tiny ass compartment of a room?"

"Ohh... Well, he's moving out. I never expected him to stay anyway." Karkat nodded in response.

"He was quite the asshole."

"Yeah, and on top of that he always complained about how 'cramped' he was. I'm just like 'Dude, if your that cramped, take a some Midol, you flaccid hipster wonder queen.' Damn that guy was..." He ended in a sigh, listening to Karkat's chuckles.

"But has he even started taking his shit out yet?" Karkat asked once his laughter had subsided.

"Well he took his hair products. That cleared up some space for me big time. But otherwise, he said he was going to remove his fabulous shit from my space in about a week."

"Well you know how every grown man needs his hair products."

"Oh yes, Karkat. Every man. What did you use this morning again?"

"Ah- that would be a brush."

"Oh fuck, thats more than you usually use."

"Shut the fuck up, you nerdy butt wipe. When was the last time you brushed your hair?"

"Oooohhhh damn I think maybe yesterday?"

Karkat laughed, "But your not sure?"

"Nope."

"So where has he been staying?"

Sollux thought for a moment before realizing he didn't actually know. Or care, really. He informed Karkat of such things and carried out some light conversation. A small while later, they left the area to scower the nearby streets for a late night icecream shop. Eventually they settled for some ice cream bars at a Seven-Eleven. He got lemon flavoured, as usual, and Karkat bought himself his favourite double chocolate fudge dream bar. The icecream lasted for all of ten minutes as they bit huge chunks out of their respective frozen treats.

Once back to the Co-op, Karkat said good night and proceeded to the third floor, leaving Sollux at his room on the second floor. When he walked throught the door he was mildly surprised to see his room mate sitting cross legged on the lower bunk while hunched over a colorful laptop. He had paused for a moment in the doorway before proceeding like normal to his desk without saying a word. His room mate looked up at him, glaring daggers, and snorted. Sollux rolled his eyes and opened up his own laptop, disappearing into the depths of his coding and research.


End file.
